FRAMINGHAM (BOSE) - Bose, based in Framingham, says it will close all 119 of its stores in North America, Europe, Japan and Australia in the coming months. In its announcement, the audio equipment company called "the dramatic shift to online shopping."
Bose opened its first US store in 1993. Today, the company says its products are "increasingly being bought through e-commerce."
"Originally, our stores gave people the opportunity to experience, test and talk to us, multi-component home entertainment systems, CDs and DVDs," said Colette Burke, vice president of global sales, in a statement. "At the time it was a radical idea, but we focused on what our customers needed and where they needed it - and we're doing the same thing now."
There are currently Bose stores in the Wrentham Outlets, the Burlington Mall and the Merrimack Outlets in New Hampshire.
Bose does not say how many employees are affected by the closures, but the company offers outplacement assistance and severance pay.
Bose keeps approximately 130 stores open in Asia and the Middle East.